The five-year pilot Pathways to Coverage program had been scheduled to expire next week but now will continue through December 2026, AP reported. Other news is from Utah, California, Florida, Maine, and Louisiana.
AP: Trump Extends Georgia Health Insurance Program With Work Requirements, Despite Red Tape Findings
Georgia’s program that provides health insurance to some low-income adults that document work or other activities has been extended for 15 months by President Donald Trump’s administration. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday that the federal government approved that the Pathways to Coverage program will continue as part of the state-federal Medicaid program through December 2026. (Amy, 9/25)
ProPublica, The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Reinstates Nicholas LaFeber’s Dental License Despite “Alarming” Care Record
The patients kept coming to the Utah oral surgeon’s office — one after another, year after year — with dental work that the surgeon said had gone wrong. He later recounted in a letter to state licensors that he had seen dental implants that had been the wrong size, patients with chronic sinus infections and one person whose implant had become lost inside their sinus cavity. These patients, he said, had all been worked on by the same dentist: Dr. Nicholas LaFeber. (Schreifels, 9/26)
Los Angeles Times: L.A. ‘MAGA Dentist’ Joke About Harming Liberal Patients Goes Viral
A self-proclaimed “MAGA Dentist” is facing backlash after a video of her joking about turning down pain-relieving gas for liberal patients at her Santa Clarita clinic blew up online. Dr. Harleen Grewal of Skyline Smiles made this quip and other wisecracks about her distaste for left-leaning clients during a speech at the Republican Liberty Gala in 2021, comments that recently attracted mass attention after a video of the speech went viral on TikTok. That video has since been taken down, but recorded versions of it and response videos criticizing Grewal continue to circulate. (Harter, 9/25)
WUSF: DeSantis Announces $60M For Cancer Research
This year’s grants will prioritize studies on nutrition’s role in cancer prevention and treatment, along with other high-impact projects. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced the state is providing $60 million in new grant funding for cancer research through the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund. (Mayer, 9/25)
AP: Survivors Of Maine’s Deadliest Mass Shooting Refile Lawsuit Against US Government
The survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history have refiled their lawsuit against the U.S. government following a new U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faults the U.S. Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members. (Whittle, 9/25)
KFF Health News: 20 Years After Katrina, Louisiana Still Struggles With Evacuation Plans That Minimize Health Risks
In late August 2020, Ashlee Guidry and her staff kept a wary eye on guidance from local officials as Hurricane Laura passed over Cuba en route to southwestern Louisiana. Guidry was responsible for the safety of dozens of people living at Stonebridge Place, an assisted living and memory care facility in Sulphur. For days, Laura was just a tropical storm, wet and disorganized. But the Gulf of Mexico was warm — much warmer than average. Local officials worried the temperatures could supercharge the storm as it spun toward the Louisiana coast. (Parker, 9/26)
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